The solution allows the video images from all locations to be accessed individually by an unlimited number of operators at the DSB main operations centre in Copenhagen. Comprehensive display and incident case management functions ensure that an incident can be tracked, counteracted, and investigated.

Flexibility through the cloud

From the Danish State Railways main operations centre in Copenhagen, the security operatives tasked with these activities can always keep a watchful eye on everything that happens in the railway stations using the Hemisphere Semsy video management solution. And the most important software components run in the Microsoft Azure cloud, which is operated by the DSB as its IT backbone. This enables all processes, such as systems management, rights, and user administration and also the allocation of computing power to be executed flexibly and from one central location.

As the components are made available centrally, the operators can also access every one of the 2500 single sensor cameras as well as all Panomera multifocal sensor systems from there rapidly and with optimum overview. Each workstation and all user views can be configured individually, so that only the widgets needed for the specific activities are visible. This enables employees to concentrate on their specific tasks without distraction.

Maps and digital incident management

Besides classic video management, the modules of the Hemisphere platform enable all pertinent case information such as photos, videos, or witness statements to be collected and recorded quickly and conveniently, and then compiled in a digital incident file. Hemisphere also integrates accurate site plans of the individual locations. Operators and security managers can use this Map function to easily select the camera they need to respond to observed incidents. The operators manage the systems via Dallmeier workstations and a monitor wall consisting of 22 Hemisphere Semsy Vario decoders. Simple, lossless switching to each individual railway station is guaranteed by Dallmeier "Premote HD", a routine which uses transcoding to conserve bandwidth and enables access to high-resolution video material even when the internet connection is less than ideal.

"Hemisphere Semsy replaces or supplements many of the systems used previously by DSB, so it improves the efficiency and quality of our workflow. By combining Dallmeier camera technology, cloud deployment and the Hemisphere management components, we are now in possession of an extremely powerful system which offers far more than standard video management," declares Søren H. Nielsen, technical director at DSB.

Long distances and large areas

Most of the railway stations in Denmark occupy large areas, however, in the patented Panomera technology implemented by DSB, up to eight sensors with different focal lengths are combined in one optical unit. The result is a total image in consistently high resolution, in which additionally an unlimited number of detail zooms can be carried out both in the live feed and in the recording. In this way, Panomera captures enormous distances and expanses in real time with a resolution pattern that is consistent over the entire object space – with very few camera systems. This in turn not only ensures that recordings are always usable in court, but it also allows a big chunk of the infrastructure costs compared with conventional solutions to be eliminated.

Enterprise capability

Danish State Railways employs over 7000 personnel. Of these, over 1000 jobs are in Administration. Figures of this magnitude entail complex user and rights management challenges in the video surveillance of currently 180 railway stations. Moreover, it is not only the employees but also public authorities such as the Police which are authorised and even required to access the video information system. In this context, it is imperative to be able to maintain an overview of rights assignment for reasons of data protection and data security. Therefore Hemisphere can be integrated seamlessly in the DSB's User Administration Active Directory.